Yves Jarvis - All Cylinders
In Real Life Music
Released on Feb 28th 2025
If you want something predictable and easy to categorize, All Cylinders might not be the record for you. The latest release from Yves Jarvis is a somewhat cleaner and more pop-centric record than some of his earlier, fuzzier, avant-ier records, but it remains undeniably outside the box, while also paying tribute to the box itself.
If you want to know who else it sounds like, well, it’s sort of like, well...huh. Damn. All Circles is like a love letter to all your favorite artists from the last 40 years. The first track I heard was an early release of “The Knife In Me”, and as it started, I was like, okay, Yves has entered his Prince era. And while some obvious Prince comparisons abound - including the formidable multi-instrumental chops that Jarvis shows off as he plays and sings every note on this record, as well as a distinct sexiness throughout - even within this one track, the style shifts from a funky Prince-esque romp, passes through a lounge-y interlude, and finally settles into something more like a folk power ballad. Jarvis himself credits Frank Sinatra as the muse for All Cylinders: “I basically only listened to Frank Sinatra for a year. I wanted Sinatra’s clarity—the way the songs exist without him, as real things…” He also lists artists like Paul McCartney (Absolutely. Give “I’ve been Mean” a spin.), Captain Beefheart, Jackson Browne, Brian Eno, and others. In both vocals and instrumentation, at any given moment you can find little easter egg nods to a who’s-who of popular music. Whether intentional or not, I pick up on a litany of allusions and associations including Thin Lizzy, Leon Bridges, Elliot Smith, Boston, Thundercat, Ben Harper, Queen, Billy Joel, Al Green, Pink Floyd, Beck, Simon & Garfunkel, etc. And keep in mind, this whole 11-song album has a total run time of 26 minutes and 20 seconds, with the longest track being the opener “With A Grain” weighing in at a whopping 3:30. The shortest song is a 13 second interlude, “Patina.” So the pivots and shifts come quickly, and the songs never really land in one place for too long as they journey through funk, jazz, rock, blues, R&B, soul, pop, folk, and more. But to be clear, while All Cylinders plays like a love letter to all these artists and influences, it is Jarvis through and through, and very distinctly it’s own thing. This isn’t just a mash-up record, trying to cram as much as possible into each song just for the hell of it. Each twist and diversion feels intentional and lovingly placed, designed to help the songs evolve to where they need to be. It’s disorienting in the best possible way.
So, if you want to listen to a super fun and interesting record, and not to mention some of the best vocals I’ve heard on any record in a long time, All Cylinders might be for you. In a way that his earlier work doesn’t quite capture, Jarvis’ voice, with layered, intricate harmonies, takes a clear starring role and helps the whole thing shine. All Cylinders is unpredictable and shape-shifting, not just from song to song, but from bar to bar, and even sometimes from note to note. Yet, despite the diversity, the album finds its voice and builds the seemingly disparate pieces into a cohesive whole. Something like a tapestry or a mosaic - weaving together a seemingly million different styles and threads to reveal a picture that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Jarvis takes an obvious delight in these songs, which in turn makes the record a delight to listen to as well.
- Chris Lammiman